TUB connection could help pressure in Wartrace, Bell Buckle

A frequent complaint heard from water customers living in the Wartrace and Bell Buckle area is the lack of pressure in the system.

But if Wartrace decides to hook up to the city of Tullahoma's water system, that problem could become a thing of the past.

Currently, the Wartrace Board of Mayor and Aldermen is still in negotiations with Tullahoma Utilities Board (TUB) over the concept of TUB supplying water to Wartrace customers. The talks began after Wartrace, which now gets its water from Cascade Spring, was placed under a boil water order that lasted nearly two weeks due to a high turbidity level.

Mayor Don Gallagher said that the elevation of Tullahoma's water tank would mean better pressure for rural water customers, not only in Wartrace but for neighboring Bell Buckle as well.

Wartrace's engineer, Robert Stigall, is currently looking over what type of impact the new source of water would have on the system, and pressure is a big factor, Gallagher said.

"It definitely affects the whole system simply because their (Tullahoma's) storage tank is at an elevation of 1,250 feet and our spring is at 893 feet, so there will be more pressure on the line."

Gallagher also said the town would probably bypass the pump and the 500,000 storage tank at the spring if the system is connected to Tullahoma's water works.

A storage tank could also be placed on Red Hill Road and a pumping station south of Wartrace on Bugscuffle Road might see less use if Wartrace connects to TUB as proposed. It would also give Wartrace the capacity to deliver more water to Bell Buckle.

Supplying water pressure to Bell Buckle has always been a problem, and a deal with TUB would give those water customers more pressure, say officials.

Gallagher feels confident that the small town will run a pipeline some 4,000 feet to a line from Tullahoma; all that's left "is getting the little details worked out."

The board will decide whether to get the water from TUB either as a full time source or on a part time basis. The other choice is to build a $3 million filtration plant for the current water supply at Cascade Springs, which was mandated by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

As for the water coming out of Cascade, which serves a large part of northern Bedford County, "everything has settled down," since the wettest part of the season has ended, Gallagher said.

Currently, TUB does not have a single customer that uses such an amount of water, so a new rate has been proposed for Wartrace- $1.70 per thousand gallons. The cost would consist of three components - the cost of wholesale water to TUB from DRUC at $1.10, a five cent Duck River Agency water fee, and 55 cents for a TUB water distribution fee.

Both TUB and the Duck River Utility Commission (DRUC) would ask their respective boards to commit to holding the price firm until July 1, 2010. The rate is not dependent upon Bell Buckle continuing to buy its water from Wartrace. The current cost for Wartrace is $2 per 1,000 gallons, and the TUB deal would result in a savings for the town. The town would also avoid having to build and staff the filtration system.

DRUC has also offered to do Wartrace's water quality testing if this option is chosen.

TUB is proposing the agreement for a term of 10 years but is willing to consider a longer or shorter term.

If the town wants to keep operating the spring, using the TUB connection only as a backup supply, there would be a two-part fee: A $500 per month charge for interconnection and standby availability and a charge of $3.89 per 1,000 gallons for all water up to 100,000 gallons, and $3.57 for all water above 100,000 gallons in a billing cycle. TUB is also willing to consider a third tier to the rate if Wartrace uses more than 1,000,000 gallons in a billing cycle.

Wartrace officials hope to approve the contract with TUB during the town's May meeting. They would then submit the construction plans to the state for approval and advertise the bids. Bids would be opened in June and the construction contract would have a 60 day window.

It is hoped that the water line to TUB would be completed by August 31.

In a related matter, Bell Buckle officials said Monday that the telemetry system for that town's water system is now online.

The system will be used to check the levels of all the system's tanks and pumps remotely.

The device will save Bell Buckle workers the time of having to drive to each location to check the water levels manually. With no way to monitor the system, there have been overflows at the water tanks from time to time, costing the small community money.

The system would also allow city workers to log in and monitor water levels from anywhere that has an Internet connection and also look for leaks in the water line.